27 November 2013

This is waiting for me in the fridge to come and get it at 3am to start baking. Low temp, long time… should be good. Also should be good because it’s literally smothered in onion garlic butter.

This is a first for me. Cooking this whole turkey thing. I had some shivers as I was (attempting) to prepare the thing. Had to call in for backup. Who knew they hid those gizzards in the neck cavity?! *shivers*

Yes. Definitely a new thing.

Also, during dinner we were talking about preparing the turkey and H bust out very confidently… “We don’t have a turkey!!!” (gesturing to it on the island)… “We have a duck!!!”

New not just for me apparently, this is obviously not much of a ‘whole bird’ kind of household. Ha!

25 November 2013

Last night: With absolutely no preparations and very little thought I fed my family soup from a box and grilled cheese. They loved it. The kids are borderline on soup still at their ages and my daughter barely more than nibbles at grilled cheese sandwiches sometimes even though she loves them, but all that ASIDE… it was a great hit of a dinner. It was so simple. The kids ate and Mikey looooved it.

Tonight: I really wanted to make a really nice meal. Things have been busy lately, we’ve been eating at the island and running a lot these days so I had something different in mind. I cooked a killer meal. I choose a recipe days ago. I planned. I prepared. I poured my heart out, you know?

I served gingered roast pork with apples along with cider walnut wild rice, a special sauce and a spinach salad. It was so SO good.

If you ask me, that is.

My husband was like ‘meh.’

And he did NOT want seconds. Even when I asked him point blank. That’s saying a lot people. A lot.

Aaaaaand my children were gagging on every bite and spitting it out onto napkins and it was spilling onto the floor.

Literally.

I get it. They like simple food. That’s great when I want to cook simple food. But what about when I want to cook something more than simple? I’d be cool if they’d like that too. At least the biggest one. Ha!

In the long run, of course I’m so thankful that Mikey doesn’t have high expectations. It makes cooking quick and easy most of the time.

She loves them. For all real and imaginary boo-boos. I tend to be frugal and a conservationist. But recently I just gave up on the Band-Aid front. I buy them at the dollar store so they’re not exactly breaking the bank. And I was tired of having the discussion about what is and isn’t technically a boo-boo that actually requires a Band-Aid. And tired of saying “No” so many times! Mamas get tired of saying “No”, seriously. I pick my battles and this wasn’t one I wanted to pick anymore.

So even though she looks a little guilty here coming out of her room with a Band-Aid on each foot and one on her finger, I really didn’t care. Use ‘em up babe! It makes her happy. And I really like getting to say “Sure!” and “Yes!” a lot more often.

18 November 2013

13 November 2013

There weren’t loads of great restaurants in the city we lived in. And there REALLY weren’t many great restaurants in our part of the city. (No great restaurants?! Probably none, if I’m honest.) But you go with what you got, right?

And what we had was Syrian House.

A couple times we ordered delivery. And one time it came like four hours later. Nice! Trying to give directions for delivery in a place where there are no addresses in a second language is fun, too, but that’s probably a whole ‘nother post…

Anyway, the best thing about this restaurant was the Syrian bread, fatiira. It was quite comparable to flour tortillas and I bought it by then tens when they would let me, which wasn’t all the time.

The inside of the place was a bit manic. I’d have to work my way up to the front of the ordering desk. I’d order in Arabic, but the guy behind the desk wouldn’t understand me because he wasn’t expecting to hear Arabic coming out of a white face and he’d look at me all confused.

Eventually he’d understand my order of thirty pieces of bread and talk me down to twenty pieces. (Aim high, you know?) Okay, I’ll take it. (No locals order bulk bread here, just me. Everyone else orders, like, meals and stuff.)

So I’d pay and he’d hand me a couple tickets. I’d work my way through the crowd over to the counter where they serve salads. I’d give him my ticket for bread and he’d look at it confused. I’d explain in Arabic (a strange order, remember) and he’d begin counting pieces of bread. We’d chat and he (and the other ten guys behind the counter) would like the fact that I speak Arabic and that I like their bread. I always wondered in my head how many hours they had to work in that hot restaurant each day and what their living conditions must be like. (Help them, Jesus).

Aaaanyway. We’d also order whole chickens or chicken shwerma, which one friend insisted was laced with MSG. She might have been right. And their hummus was good and I’d order extra and put it in the freezer for when I was in a pinch for something to serve.

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Funny how places like this and routines like this were just a part of regular life last year. In some ways it seems so fuzzy. Like a whole different world. Like a whole different life. Like a whole different me.

Friday I had the most wonderful morning out with my baby. It started with an errand that took me next to a coffee shop. So I popped in there too and treated myself to the first holiday drink of the season… a peppermint latte. And would you believe as I got back in our car with that latte in my hand I heard a Christmas song on the radio for the first time this season also?!

I know.

Crazy.

So I took it as a sign. I mean did I even have a choice?!

We went Christmas shopping.

It was so much fun. I was so in the mood. The only thing that would have made it more complete would have been if there was snow on the ground. But I am REALLY glad there wasn’t snow on the ground, cause then it’s cold and wet, you know?

To add to the excitement of my morning, I decided to put Lil’ A in the shopping cart seat for the first time ever. Usually I put her carseat in her cart or I strap her on with my trusty Ergo Carrier. But today was different…

She was pretty happy about it.

However, she’s a little squirmy and after she was done gnawing on the (very clean, I’m sure) metal bar (didn’t get a photo of that) she had squirmed herself right around to face the other direction.

Hi there cutie.

A few aisles later she had then digressed to this position. She was kinda stuck.

And not too happy about it either. He he

I’m sure if anyone in the store saw me taking the time to snap a photo of my crying baby all stuck in the cart and angry about it before actually getting her out they must of thought me a very bad mother. In fact, I’m not a bad mother, I’m just a blogger. Two very different things. Ha!

She got to spend the rest of the shopping trip on her Mama’s hip. That way is pretty great too.

08 November 2013

… the deer were grazing on the hill right outside our home. The air was cool, the sun was warm. Pikes Peak was standing beautifully in the background and the tree was full of brightly colored leaves.

Sounds dreamy, huh? It was dreamy… only it was real! I love this state.

Anyway, that dreamy reality was the perfect day to take some photos of my sweet babe in the leaves on that hill once those deer got out of the way. So that’s what I did. And now I will show you approximately forty-five of those photos. Just cause I can. And because that is how many her Grandma would like to see.

I do believe she is growing.

“Whattya doin’ up there Mama?”

“Tasty'”

“Wanna bite?”

This is girlie’s crinkle nose. She does this a lot. My other children did not.

01 November 2013

H had this teddy bear that he got when some friends of our had left. It was a really old teddy that had been re-covered.

He wasn’t my favorite, but H loved him. However he was just too big and old and heavy to pack to bring back to the States. Looking back (and having read an excellent and insightful book called “Third Culture Kids”) I think maybe we should have brought him anyway?